Bigger isn’t always better — except when it comes to food. Friends, family and former coworkers know Linda Ace for her baking but, furthermore, for the huge batches and massive treats she whips up.
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Love of food and cooking runs in the Phillips family. So, it’s no surprise that siblings Gina and Drew Phillips created a dish that revolves around one of the most celebrated family holidays (and Local Flavor’s favorite), Thanksgiving.
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A 15-pound turkey should be enough for 10 people. If your guests prefer more breast meat, buy a larger turkey. They generally have more breast meat. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Each and every item needs to stand out when setting a Thanksgiving table. (Place settings are by Mansions on Fifth; linens are from Mosaic; and food is by Settlers Ridge Giant Eagle Market District.) (Andrew Rush/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

Remove giblets and neck from turkey; reserve for gravy, if desired. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.

Sprinkle salt and pepper in the cavities of the bird. Add stuffing, if desired.

Fold neck skin and fasten to the back with skewers. Fold the wings under the back of the turkey. Return legs to tucked position.

Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (no more than 2-1/2 inches deep) roasting pan. Insert an oven-safe thermometer into thickest part of the thigh, being careful it does not touch the bone. Roast turkey in a preheated 325 F oven about 3-1/2 hours (total roasting time). Baste with the pan juices.

During the last 30 minutes of roasting time, baste the bird with the raspberry glaze.

Continue to roast until the thermometer registers 180 F in the thigh, 170 F in the breast and 165 F in the stuffing.

Remove turkey from the oven and allow the bird to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

Clean and string the beans and cut into 2-inch lengths. Boil in bouillon and water for 8 minutes; drain, reserving 1/4 cup liquid.

Melt butter in a sauce pot. Add mushrooms and onion and flip around. Simmer about 5 minutes, then add reserved bean liquid and simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in flour, making a paste. Whisk in part of milk to make a thin sauce. Keep whisking as it thickens, using as much milk as needed. Then add vinegar and tarragon and simmer on low 10 minutes, stirring often.

Place beans in a greased, flat casserole. Pour in mushroom sauce and stir to coat. Top with canned, fried onion rings, potato chips or sticks, if that is your tradition.

In heavy, large saucepan, combine cranberries, cherries with soaking liquid, sugar, cinnamon and cloves, and bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Simmer, uncovered, until cranberries pop and soften but are not mushy, about 15 minutes. If using frozen cranberries, berries may not pop, but they will soften; do not let them collapse completely.

Spoon hot sauce into decorative serving bowl or other container and cool to room temperature.

Cover and refrigerate cooled sauce for 8 hours to allow flavors to meld. Sauce keeps up to 3 days, tightly covered in refrigerator.

— TIMES-SHAMROCK ARCHIVES

Edith Gunning’s Good & Easy Dinner Rolls

Makes 12 large or 16 small rolls

1 packet yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup warm milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 1/4 cups flour

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, in order. (Tip: Stir after adding the milk to get the yeast thinking, then again after the egg to combine; sift the flour).

Beat with a spoon until glossy (if it gets sticky, you can use your hands to knead gently).

Let rise (in a warm place, covered with a clean dish towel) until double in bulk, about one hour.

Stir down and divide into buttered muffin tin — grease fingers and roll smooth off spoon. (To get them all a similar size, pull the dough in half, then divide each half in two again, then into thirds for 12 rolls. If you want to get fancy, divide each individual roll-ball into thirds and nest them together in the muffin-tin compartment, so each roll pulls apart into three lobes when eaten.)

Let rise again, about half an hour to top of muffin cups.

Brush top with melted butter. Bake at 375 F for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve warm with lots of butter.

— TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

DRINKS

Slow Cooker Mulled Cider

1 gallon apple cider

1 orange

30 whole cloves

4 cinnamon sticks

1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend (you can get the recipe at www.itisakeeper.com/nepafamilytimes)

Optional: 5-6 star anise pods (not anise extract)

Pour cider into slow cooker.

Slice orange into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Pierce each orange slice with 5 to 6 whole cloves. Place slices in slow cooker.

Place eggs in large bowl and beat with a fork or whisk. Add sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir until well mixed. Stir in pumpkin and evaporated milk.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving time. If desired, add a spoonful of low-fat whipped topping to each serving and sprinkle with additional ground cinnamon.

• The size: Figure about 1 pound of turkey per person or 1½ pounds if you want leftovers. A 15-pound turkey should be enough for 10 people. If your guests prefer more breast meat, buy a larger turkey. • Thaw it: Allow at least 24 hours of thawing time for each 5 pounds of turkey. Always thaw it in the refrigerator in its original wrapping, never at room temperature. If you forget to take the turkey out of the freezer in time to thaw it in the refrigerator, place it in its unopened packaging in the sink and cover it completely with cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Rotate the bird occasionally and allow 30 minutes of thawing time per pound. A 10-pound turkey will take at least 5 hours to thaw using this method.

• Stuffing: Mix the stuffing ingredients together just before you’re ready to stuff the turkey, and always stuff it just before it goes in the oven, never before. Loosely spoon the stuffing into the cavity, allowing about ¾ cup per pound. Don’t overdo it. A 10-pound turkey should hold about 7 cups of stuffing.

• Roasting: The Butterball folks recommend cooking the turkey uncovered in a roasting pan. Two-thirds of the way through cooking, Butterball says you can place foil over the breast area to prevent it from drying out. If you put foil on the breast, remove it about 30 to 45 minutes before the turkey is done to allow the breast to brown.

• Basting: Start basting with a bulb baster after the turkey has been in the oven about an hour by drawing up the pan juices. Add a cup or two of turkey stock or chicken broth to the roasting pan to supplement the pan juices for basting.

• Know when it’s done: Roasting times vary with the turkey size, whether it is stuffed and the oven temperature. Use an oven-safe meat thermometer or instant-read thermometer; the turkey is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 F. Or, check the turkey at the estimated time by piercing it in several places with a fork. The turkey is done when the juices run clear.

— TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Keep it simple

Don’t feel like you need to make every side from scratch. It’s OK to pick up pre-made goods. Save time and energy by serving these instead:

• Instant mashed potatoes with canned gravy

• Dinner rolls with butter

• Canned cranberry sauce

(jellied or whole berry)

• Frozen or canned vegetables

— STAFF REPORT

Wine and dine

Complement your meal with the right wine with the help of these tips from David Falchek, Weekend Times wine columnist and executive director of the American Wine Society.

• What doesn’t: Avoid big and heavily oaked wines, such as petite sirah, many zinfandels and chardonnay, which will overpower the meal. Conventional fare usually does not pair well with sweet and semi-sweet wines, and lean, very acidic wines, such as many pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc, aren’t the best, either.

• Go American: Grab a riesling from the Finger Lakes region or a cool-climate pinot noirs, such as those from Oregon and the eastern United States.

• For dessert: Pour a tawny Port and enjoy its throttled-up flavor and sweetness.

— STAFF REPORT

Serving a buffet

If you’re swapping a sit-down dinner for a buffet this year, here are some tips to keep the flow moving as diners pack their plates.

1. Choose the setup: A one-sided display caters to a continuous flow, in and out in the same direction. A round buffet table also works well, as long as everyone moves in a clockwise manner.

2. Let the food shine: Pick small seasonal decorations and keep them to a minimum. Place them strategically on the buffet table — the food is still the star of the show.

3. Start with plates and silverware: Set the plates and linen-wrapped silverware at the beginning of the buffet table before placing the food.

4. Turkey is the main attraction: The first food item after silverware and plates should be the turkey. Carve it before placing it on the table so you don’t slow the flow by having people cut the meat and serve themselves.

6. At the end: Place the gravy and cranberry sauce at the end so you can top the meat, stuffing, etc., with them at once without holding up the line. Then set out rolls and butter. Or, place these items on the dining table so guests can help themselves to seconds.

7. Best for last: Stack the dessert plates, forks and napkins on one end of the table followed by traditional desserts, such as pumpkin pie. After that can come specialty cakes, such as cheesecake, and then cookies and other light pick-me-ups.

— TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Need help?

Here are a few sources for holiday cooking help:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline is staffed year-round, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern weekdays. 888-674-6854. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern on Thanksgiving. Virtual help is available at www.fsis.USDA.gov

Follow these tips to break off the longest piece of the Thanksgiving wishbone and secure yourself some luck.

• A “fresh” wishbone won’t break; it will bend. A wishbone must be dried before you try to snap it. Be patient. Some people let it air dry until Christmas, but you also can briefly stick it in the oven.

• When the wishbone is ready, use your dominant hand — a dry hand is best — and grab the side that looks thicker.

• Choke up on your side. Grab the wishbone between your thumb and forefinger as close as possible to the base of the V. The more you choke up, the more the other person has to do all the work, which increases the chance of them breaking their side. The more their side moves, the more stress and points of weakness it creates on the bone.

— TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

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